Success Story │ Central administration at the University of Siegen
Central administration at the University of Siegen relies on intelligent printer management.
The central administration at the University of Siegen has modernized its printing environment and is now centrally and reliably using steadyPRINT to manage two print servers and approximately 200 printers at five locations. After the displacement of the old and script-based solutions, the automatic “All in all, the administrative effort was considerably reduced by distribution of the printer drivers is now more flexible and all users are steadyPRINT. The work is now assigned the next available local printer. In the graphic management limited to the steadyPRINT Center console the facilities have been realized by a folder structure on several and is clearly arranged and easier to plan.” levels, thus reducing the administrative effort to a minimum.
Matthias Jochum, IT applications at the central university administration
With 16.800 students and almost 1.600 employees, the University of Siegen is one of the largest employers in the region. When ensuring the structure and function of such an educational establishment, the central university administration as a service provider with 200 workplaces spread across 5 locations is of essential significance. In order to guarantee a long-term performance of all administrative tasks within the seven departments, the continuous availability of the IT-infrastructure is of utmost importance.
However, the impairment of the availability due to, for example, failures in the printing Facts. environment might lead to considerable problems resulting in substantial damages. But not only do print server failures cause such problems, also the print server change to new 2 print servers (incl. reliability) operating systems is closely linked to a complex and time-consuming work. 200 printers, spread across 5 locations
Licensing: steadyPRINT Enterprise for central management and reliability Previous solution has met its limits.
Mapping of the company At the end of 2011, the central administration at the University of Siegen faced this structure in the graphical challenge after the migration to the operating system Windows Server 2008 R2 had management-console already taken place and a solution for the management of the printing environment had to be found. At that time, the script-based solutions of the new servers which were Installation of printer drivers implemented in two fire protection zones could not be used any longer. The need for with administrative user rights action was obvious. “We were aware of the fact that printing is essential for the work in our institution and that it is as important as the internet”, remembers Matthias Jochum, Minimal administrative effort the responsible project manager.
www.steadyprint.com Success Story │ Central administration at the University of Siegen
Specific requirements to the organizational structure. When searching for a solution that takes over the distribution of printer drivers in the background during the creation of printer connections and also offers a higher user- friendliness, steadyPRINT could convince the university officials of its possibilities. “Already the first presentation of the innovative product has impressed us”, said Karsten Wermann, IT manager at the central university administration.
Right at the beginning of the project, the responsible management expressed the wish for a custom software. For example, all printers should be displayed and assigned in a recursive folder structure in order to clearly map the complete facilities. Moreover, a printer driver installation with administrative user rights, a location-based printer assignment working independently of department or organization and, last but not least, the reliability were important requirements to be implemented. “It is rare, that customers are so close to the project development and able to cooperate directly with the respon- sible management.”
Matthias Jochum Outstanding reliability and competence. The real implementation of the new software took place in December 2011 and could be realized including the function of reliability fast and easily in the course of a single morning. Now, the possibilities of two enterprise licenses provide the University of Siegen with an optimal management tool for its printing environment. Due to a permanent monitoring of the print servers, occurring problems can immediately be realized and solved. Moreover, a redundant print server guarantees a reliable printing environment, so that all users can print without interruption and work efficiently in case of a print server failure. steadyPRINT is a software-based so- lution for the management of printer “All in all, the administrative effort was considerably reduced by steadyPRINT. The work connections, the monitoring and in- is now limited to the steadyPRINT Center and is clearly arranged and easier to plan”, ventory of the printing environment as states Jochum and commends the new overview of the complex printer landscape of the well as the reliability of print servers. overall central university administration. Thus, the software meets all requirements. No matter whether you work with workstations, Thin Clients (irrespecti- The product is completed by a qualified support as well as a quick and reliable service. ve of the operating system) or termi- nal server environments (Microsoft or The responsible management of the University of Siegen was very satisfied with the Citrix), you require neither additional project implementation: “It is rare that customers are so close to the project development hardware, nor licenses. Moreover, and able to cooperate directly with the responsible management”, Jochum summarizes steadyPRINT offers further features the implementation and finally mentions: “I’m completely satisfied with the support and like the migration of print servers, a there is nothing left to be desired in terms of general service.” Client tool for the intuitive manage- ment of printer connections by users and many more. Due to a German and English surface, steadyPRINT can be used anywhere. www.steadyprint.com
K-iS Systemhaus Group with headquarters in Siegen and subsidiaries in Dortmund, Berlin, Freiburg, Hanau, Ziegelbrücke in the canton of Glarus (Switzerland) and New York City (USA) offers customized IT solutions to small, medium-sized and large companies. The IT service provider is one of the leading Citrix and Microsoft Gold Partners in Germany and Switzerland and cooperates with many other renowned manufacturers. The service portfolio comprises the areas project (virtualization | storage | infrastructure | migration), service (support | trainings | events) and development. steadyPRINT is a product of the company’s own development department.
USA: steadySOLUTIONS, Inc. New York: 80 Pine Street, Floor 24 | New York City, NY 10005, USA | Phone: +1 (646) 437-1024 | Fax: +1 (646) 405-1027 | Mail: [email protected]
Germany: K-iS Systemhaus GmbH & Co. KG Siegen: Numbachstraße 30 | 57072 Siegen, Germany | Phone: +49 271 31370-45 | Fax: +49 271 31370-59 | Mail: [email protected] Dortmund: Wandweg 3 | 44149 Dortmund, Germany | Phone: +49 231 9995059-1 | Fax: +49 231 9995059-9 | Mail: [email protected] Berlin: Windscheidstraße 18 (2. Hinterhaus) | 10627 Berlin, Germany | Phone: +49 30 20005970-1 | Fax: +49 30 20005970-9 | Mail: [email protected] Freiburg: Engelbergerstraße 19 | 79106 Freiburg i. Br., Germany | Phone: +49 761 8879423-1 | Fax: +49 761 8879423-9 | Mail: [email protected]
Switzerland: K-iS Systemhaus GmbH Ziegelbrücke: Fabrikstrasse 10 | 8866 Ziegelbrücke, Switzerland | Phone: +41 55 53610-21 | Fax: +41 55 53610-29 | Mail: [email protected]
steadyPRINT is a registered trademark of the K-iS Systemhaus Group. No liability for errors or incomplete information in this document. All information without guarantee. Subject to change. As of June 2013.